Acetylene-gas street-lamp.



PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

H. M. HASTINGS. AGBTYLENE GAS STREET LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAE. 24,.1902.

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UNTTEE STATES Patented May 26, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRYM. HASTINGS, OF GEYSERVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

ESPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 728,912,- dated May 26, 1903. Application filed March 24, 1902. Serial No. 99,808. (No model.)

citizen of the United States, residing at Geyserville, in the county of Sonoma and State of California, have invented a new and useful Acetylene-Gas Street-Lamp, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in acetylene-gas generators, and has for its principal object to construct a generator in which the manufacture of the gas may be automatically stopped at a predetermined time or after any predetermined. quantity of carbid has been immersed in the water, the device being so constructed that a comparatively large quantity of carbid may be placed therein and the manufacture of gas stopped after any predetermined quantity of the carbid has been exhausted.

A further object of the invention is to construct a generator especially applicable for use for street-lighting purposes in which the light will be automatically extinguished after burning for any predetermined period of time.

A still further object of the invention is to provide the generator with an improved form of drier and strainer, which may be readily removed from position for the substitution of} a fresh drier without stopping the generation of gas or causing any appreciable loss thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a street-lamp provided with a gas-generator constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the generating device. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the structure on a line at right angles to Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the drier and strainer removed from the apparatus. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are sectional plan views, drawn to an enlarged scale on the section-lines of Fig. 2, bearing corresponding numerals.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

10 designates a cylindrical casing, preferably slightly tapering in form and having a bottom flange 11, by which it may be secured to a suitable support, such as a tree'stump or post, the top of which may be arranged to form the bottom of a scrubbing-chamber 12 at the bottom of the post by the employment of a suitable packing-ring 13, of rubber or other yielding material, although, as a rule, it is preferable to provide the post with a metallic bottom, as indicated at 14 in Fig. 4.

In the lower portion of the casing is arranged a generating-chamber 15, formed of inner and outer tubes 16 and 1'7, respectively, said tubes being preferably equal in length and having an annular space formed between them for the free passage of gas from the gasbell to the lower scrubbing-chamber. The bottom of the generating-chamber is formed bya transversely-disposed partition 18,which extends completely across the casing 10, the whole of the lower portion of the casing forming a water-tank, from which leads an overflow-pipe 19, forming the water-level, and a bottom escape-pipe 20, through which the sludge and waste water may be withdrawn, the lower pipe being provided with a removable cap or cover 21 or with a valve or cock of any suitable construction, and to provide for the free access of water to both the inner and outer portions of the tankIprovidesuitable passages 22 by placing-thimbles in the inner and outer tubes 16 and 17.

The upper end of the generating-chamber projects above the water-line and extends into an annular space 23, formed between an inner tube 24: and an outer tube 25, thesetwo tubes being concentrically disposed and forming the gas-bell and suitable passages oropenings 26 being arranged in the upper portion of the tube 24 to permit the escape of gas into the annular space 23 and thence through the annular space between the tubes 16 and 17 to the washer at the lower end of the casing 10. The upper ends of the two tubes are securely connected by a flanged head 27, having internal screw-threads for the reception of a cap or cover 28, which is removed when it becomes necessary to insert a fresh charge of carbid.

The carbid is arranged in a specially-constructed carrier 30,formed, preferably, of wire gauze or foraminous sheet metal bent into tubular form and separated into a series of compartments by a series of reticulated partitions 32, arranged one above the other, so as to form a series of superposed carbid-receiving chambers. The carbid receiver or carrier may be supported within the gas-bell in any suitable manner; but for convenience I provide the plug 28 in a suitable book 33, adapted to engage a link or hook 34, secured to the upper end of the carrier, so that when the plug is unscrewed for removal the carbidreceiver may be withdrawn at the same operation. Owing to the construction of the carbid receiver or carrier, the ex posure of the carbid in the lower chambers will not result 'in the discharge of the remaining portions of the carbid after the lower portion is hydrated, the carbid being used up very gradually andits exposure to the water being checked in a mannerhereinafter described after any predetermined quantity has been used.

The washing or scrubbing chamber 12 in the lower portion of the casing is provided with a body of water which may be inserted through a suitable pipe 35 and withdrawn through a lower discharge-pipe 36, each of said pipes being provided with caps or valves of any ordinary description. At a suitable point within the chamber is a horizontallydisposed partition 36, formed of wire-gauze or some similar material, which will break up the gas in order that it may be more thoroughly washed by the water. The lower ends of the tubes 16 and 17 are always below the water-line, so that the gas will at all times be discharged through the water and become thoroughly washed in its passage therethrough and will finally escape from the scrubbing-chamber through a pipe 38, leading to a chamber at the top of the casing 10.

At the upper portion of the casing 10 is a partition 39, forming a gas-receiving chamber from which the gas may escape through an upper opening 40 to a suitable burner 41, or when the device is in the neighborhood of a building or is employed for the manufacture of gas for lighting a house or other structure the gas may pass downwardly through a pipe 42, extending out through the casing and provided with a coupling 43, connected to any suitable service-pipe. At one side of the upper portion of the casing is formed a small chamber 44, connected at its lower end to the gas-pipe 38 and its upper portion communicating by a passage 45 with the upper gas-chamber. This small chamber is designed to receive a combined strainer and drier of the construction more clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and comprising an elongated cylindrical casing 46, of wire-gauze or similar material, the upper end of the casing being securely connected to a threaded plug 47, adapted to a threaded opening at the top of the main casing 10, so that by unscrewing the plug the casing 46 may be readily withdrawn for renewal or repairs. The casing 46 is preferably provided by a partition 48 into upper and lower chambers, in which are placed drying and straining materials, such as cotton or asbestos fiber, the function of which is to dry the wet gas before allowing it to proceed to the burner, and the upper chamber is preferably of such capacity as to contain a quantity of dry gas sufficient for consumption for a small period of time.

The burner 41 or the pipe leading thereto is provided with a gas-cock 50, to which is secured a lever 51, connected at its outer end to a chain or cord 52, extending down through a small tube 53 to a point within the casing 10 and there adapted for connection to the gas-bell. In connecting the chain to the hell I preferably provide the bell with a book 54,

which may be engaged in any desired link of the chain, and the links for purposes of convenience may be provided with numbers or other designating marks representing hours or pounds of carbid, or fractions of either, and for purposes of adjustment the casing is provided with a door 55, which may be readily opened and closed when it is desired to gain access to the interior of the casing either for the purpose of renewing the carbid or for adjusting the chain.

In the operation of the mechanism the chain is secured to the bell at a point which will stretch the chain taut between the lever 51 and the bell at a predetermined period of time, or at a time which experience in the operation of the device may be determined, to check the downward movement of the bell and the shutting off of the supply of gas to the burner when the bell has reached a predetermined level and a certain proportion of the carbid has been exhausted. Under normal conditions the quantity of gas which may be manufactured by the employment of a certain quantity of carbid may be accurately determined, and the number of feet of gas consumed at a burner can also be determined, so that the chain may be adjusted in the evening to shut off the flow of gas thereto at any predetermined time the next morning. In addition to this the device may be employed to stop the manufacture of gas after a predetermined quantity of carbid has been consumed by securing the upper end of the chain to a fixed point and adjustably securing its lower end to the generator, and in this manner the flow of gas maybe checked after a predetermined quantity has been manufactured. This feature of the invention may also be utilized in connection with coin-controlled apparatus by the employment of mechanism for automatically connecting the chain to the bell at a distance governed by the value of the coin inserted.

While the construction herein described and illustrated in the accompanying draw- III? ings presents the preferred form of the device, it is obvious that many changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination in an acetylene-gas generator,of the bell, a gas-outlet pipe,a valve therein, and means for adjustably securing the gas-bell to the valve to cut off the discharge of the gas after the descent of the bell for a predetermined distance.

2. The combination with an acetylenegas generator, of a gas-outlet pipe, a burner connected thereto, a valve in said pipe,and mechanism adjustably connecting a movable portion of the generator to said valve, thereby to effect the automatic closing of the valve at a predetermined time.

3. An acetylene-gas lamp comprising in combination, a lower tank for containing a water-supply, an upper gas-bell, a carbid-carrier supported and movable with the bell, a gas-outlet pipe, a valve therein, and a chain or cord secured at one end to the burner and having its opposite end portion adjustably connected to the gas-bell.

4. Ari acetylene-gas lamp comprising in combination, a lower water-tank, an upper gas-bell, a carbid-carrier supported by and movable with the bell, a gas-outlet pipe having a burner, a valve for controlling the flow of gas therethrough, and a chain or cord adjustably connecting said gas-bell and valve.

5. An acetylene-gas generator comprising in combination, a casing forming a Watertank, a generator comprising two concentric cylinders forming an annular gas-escape passage,and a movable carbid-carrying bell comprising a pair of concentric cylinders so arranged as to form an annular gas-space for the reception of the cylinders forming the generators, the cylinders of the generator being disposed between the cylinders of the bell and forming an annular gas-passage, substantially as specified.

6. In an acetylene-gas generator, a generating-tank and a gas-bell, each formed of a pairof concentric cylinders so disposed that the cylinders of one pair shall fit within the annular space formed by the cylinders of the opposite pair, the space between the inner pair of tubes forming a continuous annular passage for the escape of gas from the bell, substantially as specified.

7. An acetylene-gas generator comprising in combination, a generator formed of a pair of concentric tubes having an annular gas-escape passage,a casing surrounding said tubes, pipes or passages extending through the tubes and placing the interior of the casing in communication with the space Within the inner tube, a movable gas-bell formed of a pair of concentric tubes having an annular space for the reception of the tubes forming the generator, and the inner of the gas-bell tubes being provided with openings to permit of the escape of gas therefrom, and a carbid-carrier supported within the gas-bell, substantially as specified.

8. In an acetylene-gas generator, a casing adapted to contain a body of water, a generating-chamber within the casing and movable gas-bell, a carbid-carrier supported thereby, an upper gas-receiving chamber, a dischargepipe leading therefrom, a valve on said discharge-pipe, a chain secured at one end to the valve,and a hook carried by the gasbell to which the lower portion of the chain may be adjustably connected, substantially as specified.

9. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of the casing having an upper gasreceiving chamber, a tube 53 leading therethrough,a generator,a gas-bell coacting therewith, a door provided on the casing ata point opposite the gas-bell, a gas-discharge pipe leading from the upper chamber, a valve in said pipe, a chain secured at one end to the valve and extending down through said tube 53 into the casing, and a hook carried by the gas-bell to Which the lower portion of said chain may be secured, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY M. HASTINGS.

Witnesses:

W. F. COWAN, F. McG. MARTIN. 

